Reviewed and updated October 9, 2026 by the SearchSystems.net editorial team. The arrest counts are the ones the agency reported to the FBI, through 2025. The jail figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data. Every office link was opened and checked against the office's own site between September 23, 2026 and October 4, 2026.
Merrillville, Indiana, in Lake County, has about 37,000 residents (2024 Census Bureau estimate), and its arrests are reported to the FBI by an agency of its own. An arrest in the city leaves the same records whoever makes it: the arresting agency's report, the record of anyone held at the county jail, and, if the Prosecuting Attorney files charges, a case in the Lake Circuit and Superior Courts. This guide says who keeps each one, what it costs and who may see it, with the arrest counts the agency reported.
This guide covers who makes arrests, how many arrests, booking and the jail, finding an arrest, copies and common questions.
Related guides: Merrillville public records, Lake County arrest records, Indiana arrest records and Indiana inmate search.
Who Makes Arrests in Merrillville
The FBI lists Merrillville with an arrest reporting agency of its own, filed as Merrillville Police Department. It reported 505 arrests for 2025. A city is listed separately whether the officers are the city's own or the sheriff's under contract; the FBI's list does not say which.
Outside the city, the Lake County Sheriff's Office is the county agency. It reported 888 arrests for 2025.
The FBI's agency list also places these agencies in Lake County: Indiana University at Northwest (campus police); Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad (other).
How Many Arrests Merrillville Reports
Each agency reports its arrests to the FBI by month, and the FBI publishes them on the Crime Data Explorer. These are the full-year totals, all offenses, as the FBI held them on October 8, 2026; a year with months missing or not reported is left out.
- Merrillville: 505 for 2025, 459 for 2023, 603 for 2020 and 699 for 2019; 2021, 2022 and 2024 are missing months.
Through July 2026, Merrillville reported 258 arrests, against 302 in the same months of 2025.
Across Lake County, the 17 agencies with all twelve months of 2025 on file reported 12,363 arrests between them.
Booking: Where People Arrested in Merrillville Are Held
The county jail is where a person arrested in Merrillville and kept in custody ends up, whichever agency made the arrest, though a city department may hold someone in its own cells first and a person cited and released at the scene is never booked. The jail's record of each person held, with the charges, is a public record of the arrest, and once the person is released or sentenced the record continues in the court file.
On an average day in 2024 the jail held about 890 people, up from about 800 in 2019. Its rated capacity in 2023, the last year with a capacity figure, was 1,050 beds, and it ran at 85 percent of it that year. The figures are from the Vera Institute of Justice's Incarceration Trends data.
SearchSystems opened and checked the jail page of the Lake County Sheriff's Office at lakecountysheriff.com/page.php?id=30 (page title: Lake County Sheriff | Lake County Sheriff), 2293 N. Main Street, Crown Point, IN 46307-1854, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on October 4, 2026.
A sentence of more than a year is served in state prison; the Indiana Department of Correction lists its inmates at offenderlocator.idoc.in.gov/idoc-ofs-1.0.2/ofs.
How to Find Out About an Arrest in Merrillville
Whether someone was arrested in Merrillville, and what came of it, shows up in two places: the case index of the Lake Circuit and Superior Courts, which shows whether charges were filed and the next court date (the court records page SearchSystems verified is at in.gov/courts/help/mycase); the Prosecuting Attorney, which decides whether an arrest becomes a charge (its page is at lakecountyin.gov/departments/prosecutor, phone 219-755-3720).
Statewide, mycase.IN.gov is the Indiana courts' free statewide case search.
Indiana is one of the states that lets anyone look up another person's statewide criminal history: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online, through the Indiana State Police. That record shows what agencies reported to the state, which is wider than one county's court index but can lag it.
Getting a Copy of an Arrest Record in Merrillville
The report of an arrest is released by the agency that made it; the jail and the court hold their own records of the same event, but not the report. Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act the agency must answer within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email, and it may charge a copy fee set by the agency, within statutory limits.
- An arrest by the Merrillville police: the police records page SearchSystems verified at merrillville.in.gov/living-here/police-department/file-a-police-report (page title: File a Police Report | Town of Merrillville), phone 219-769-5711, which answered when SearchSystems opened it on September 25, 2026.
- An arrest by the Lake County Sheriff's Office: ask its records unit.
- A defendant who has been charged gets the report through the case: the Prosecuting Attorney, 219-755-3720, handles discovery for pending cases.
- The court file of a case that was filed: the Lake Circuit and Superior Courts, through the court records page at in.gov/courts/help/mycase.
- Any county record that is not posted: the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountyin.gov (page title: Public Records Request).
- Your own statewide record: the same request described above, for your own name.
The Lake County guide covers every agency in the county: Lake County arrest records.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many arrests are made in Merrillville each year?
Merrillville reported 505 arrests to the FBI for 2025, its latest full year.
How do I find out if someone is in jail in Merrillville?
Ask the Lake County Sheriff's Office; its jail page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountysheriff.com/page.php?id=30.
Where are people arrested in Merrillville booked?
Those kept in custody go to the county jail, run by the Lake County Sheriff's Office; a person cited and released at the scene is not booked.
Are arrest records public in Merrillville?
The court files of criminal cases are public, and so is the statewide criminal history kept by the Indiana State Police: the Limited Criminal History search is open to anyone online. The arrest report itself is released by the agency that made the arrest, under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.
How do I get a copy of an arrest report in Merrillville?
From the agency that made the arrest: the Merrillville police for its own arrests, the Lake County Sheriff's Office for the sheriff's. Under the Indiana Access to Public Records Act the answer is due within 24 hours for a request made in person and 7 days for one sent by mail or email; the county records request page SearchSystems verified is at lakecountyin.gov.
Is this the official Merrillville website?
No. SearchSystems.net is an independent public records guide, online since 1997. It links to the official city, county, court and state offices described above and does not hold records, charge for them or take requests.